From Music Theatre Workshop to MTN

The International Music Theatre Committee was founded in 1969 as a working group within the International Theatre Institute (ITI). In 1983 the committee initiated a triennial event, the Music Theatre Workshop, whose goal was to exchange ideas on new works and developments in this genre. The artistic teams – composers/and or librettist and directors were invited to give lectures presenting the productions with the use of video.

The idea for Music Theatre NOW was developed with Laura Berman and Roland Quitt leading the discussion in 1996 and in 2008 the workshop was finally transformed into a worldwide competition with an international jury, reflecting a conscious attempt to expand the scope of the project outside of Europe and North America.

The first competition within the revised concept received about 200 entries from 30 different countries. Prizes were awarded in five categories and the 18 winning projects were presented at an international meeting at the Radialsystem Berlin in 2008. With nearly 400 applications from 51 countries the second edition of MTN exceeded the success of the first competition. 17 productions were chosen to be presented at the meeting in 2013 that was hosted by the Scenkonstbiennalen in Jönkopping, Sweden.

The list of works presented over the years includes the following composers: